Boundaries
by sentbyfools
Summary: Wes has expectations about certain things, "issues" if you ask Travis about it. AKA Three times Travis ignored Wes' boundaries, and one time Wes ignored his.


**Title:** Boundaries

**Author: **sentbyfools

**Summary: **Wes has expectations about certain things, "issues" if you ask Travis about it. AKA Three times Travis ignored Wes' boundaries, and one time Wes ignored his.

* * *

They've gone over this a million times, but Travis still doesn't get it. Wes loves his car. He _loves_ his car. And when Travis does things to it, like dinging the door or breaking the lock on the dash, it, understandably, pisses him off.

"I'm going to kill you," Wes says, and goes for the throat.

So maybe he overreacts to the scratch on his door. Maybe strangling Travis wasn't understandable, he muses later when they are both bruised and sitting on the curb by the station eating hot dogs from the local vendor. The ache in his jaw feels worth it though for the stilted "I'm sorry," he gets halfway through the meal.

"Thanks," is all Wes says in response.

* * *

Bored on a stakeout, Travis pens a text to Alex. It's nothing serious or noteworthy, just a casual "how are you?" but it gets the desired reaction.

"You're an asshole," Wes says.

Travis shakes his head at him. "I thought we were working on this. Name calling is supposed to be a no-no; we decided on this in counseling, didn't we?"

Wes ignores him, reaches across the seat and grabs the phone out of Travis' hands. He scans the screen, making a disgusted face at it.

"'How are you?' Seriously?" Wes says, pocketing Travis' phone.

"Stealing is a crime, and reading my texts is an invasion of my privacy. You are not respecting my boundaries."

"How can I respect something that doesn't exist? You don't even know what the word means."

"Yes I do. It means something you shouldn't cross."

"Oh so you do know? Is that why you're still texting, Alex?" Wes says, glaring at him.

Whatever Wes might say about him and his inability to apologize, Travis still does feel badly when he knows he's in the wrong. He rubs his neck self-consciously, and looks away from Wes, turning his gaze towards the window. He grins at what he sees. Saved by the suspect leaving the house.

"Suspect's on the move," he says.

Wes rolls his eyes but starts up the car all the same. "This isn't over."

Travis is sure it isn't. Things never are between the two of them.

* * *

The kiss is a surprise. Wes does not like surprises.

They're arguing about their latest case, and Travis isn't listening to reason as per usual. The only thing Travis ever thinks with is his lower brain.

Wes throws his hands up in the air, thoroughly annoyed. He is about to walk away before they can cause any damage to the empty law office they were investigating. Even though Wes has plenty of money to pay for the damages, it still pains him to do so; he'd rather spend that money on fertilizer.

"Don't walk away from me," Travis says when Wes turns to leave.

"I'm done with this conversation," Wes says. "She did it. Case solved. I'm going to pick her up."

Wes starts walking but is stopped by a hand on his arm.

"Travis," Wes says, a warning.

Travis ignores it. He does more than ignore it. He twists Wes around, pulls him close, and kisses him with a force that leaves Wes' lips feeling bruised. Wes is too surprised to do more than stand there as Travis fights for dominance of Wes' mouth.

Finally, Travis steps away. He gives Wes a considering look, and then says, "She didn't do it. Let me prove it to you."

Wes nods. Somehow he has the lost the will to argue.

* * *

Not talking about things is one of their rules, or "issues keeping them from truly having a meaningful and lasting relationship" as Dr. Ryan would say.

Wes breaks it though. Wes has been chauffeuring Travis to and from work while he gets his motorcycle fixed. They're unusually quiet on the way back to Travis' place, his trailer, and Wes is going over the argument they had about whether a trailer is a better living situation than a hotel room (it's not; it's really not). It was a stupid argument. Most of their arguments are, but this one is nagging at the back of his mind. He wonders what living in a trailer is actually like, what Travis' home looks like inside. He's never been let in, and he's never asked. Now, though, he truly wants to know what 'home' means to Travis.

They're about to part ways, Travis stepping out of the car, when Wes blurts out, "Can I see your trailer?"

Travis narrows his eyes, and then raises both eyebrows at him. "Is this supposed to be a come on?"

Wes inclines his head thoughtfully. _Is it_? "I don't know. Maybe. We kissed, didn't we?"

Travis still looks suspicious. He presses his lips together in silent thought and then says, "I kissed you, and you just stood there. It was like kissing a board. Besides I thought we weren't going to do this. We weren't going to talk about this. We were just going to -"

"Ignore it, right. Sorry about that," Wes says, drumming his hands against the steering wheel self-consciously. He can't look Travis in the eyes now, the situation is too awkward. He wishes he could just drive off, but despite threatening to kill Travis on a daily basis, he doesn't want to actually go through with it. Especially when it'd leave behind so much evidence of his crime.

Travis is still standing half in the car and half out of it. After a moment, he climbs all the way out and shuts the door behind him. Wes closes his eyes and breathes a sigh of relief. He can drive off safely now and add this night to the list of things they don't talk about.

Except, when he opens his eyes, Travis is standing beside his door, waiting. Wes rolls down the window.

"Yeah?" he says, at a loss for words.

"Wanna come in?" Travis asks after what seems like minutes of silence pass between them. He smiles at Wes brightly, in that disarming way he smiles at everyone to get them to give him whatever he wants. There isn't any manipulation in the grin this time though. It's just a smile.

Wes isn't sure any of this is a good idea, but he finds himself saying, "Yes," anyway. He unbuckles his seatbelt, climbs out of his car, and follows Travis inside.


End file.
